October 25, 1993
- Randy Savage blasted Hulk Hogan in a lengthy interview on Jim Ross' radio show this weekend. Before getting into the comments, Dave notes that JR has been obviously trying to make his show more controversial and he's not sure if Savage's comments were approved by Vince or not. The New York Daily News reported that Hogan was planning to meet with Ted Turner soon about starting up a new wrestling promotion (or more likely, Dave says, just about appearing in WCW) and it's possible that Vince is upset about that and gave Savage the okay to say what he said. More likely though, Savage just went off on his own. However, it was clear that Jim Ross and co-host Johnny Polo knew ahead of time what Savage was going to say, because they hyped it up beforehand, saying that Savage was going to make waves when they interviewed him and then Ross asked him leading questions.
- Among the laundry list of things Savage said, he called Hogan "the worst prima donna I've ever met in my life" and said his ego is so out of control that "Hulk Hogan" the character has consumed the real Terry Bollea. He also said that Hogan "completely lied on Arsenio Hall" and says he was in a car with Hogan the night before he did the Arsenio Hall show and said he begged Hogan not to go on there and lie, but he did.
- Then the topic of Savage's divorce from Elizabeth came up. Savage says that Elizabeth and Hogan's wife were best friends and says that while Randy was on the road, he would call to talk to Elizabeth and she would be hiding out at Hogan's house, and Hogan and Linda would both cover for her and act like she wasn't there. He claims Hogan knew that Elizabeth was planning to divorce him and never told him even though he thought he and Hogan were friends. He says he believes Hogan and Linda essentially talked Elizabeth into divorcing him and he was blindsided by it.
- Dave says none of this is news within the locker room, as there's been heat between Savage and Hogan for awhile over these issues, and it's no secret to many that Savage blames Hogan for his marriage to Elizabeth falling apart. But there's some speculation that this might be the start of a shoot-like angle, the sort of thing Antonio Inoki or Jerry Jarrett are known for doing in their companies. Dave says it's possible and you can't rule out a Hogan/Savage match at Wrestlemania. But if it's a work, then Hogan would have to be in on it. And given the harshness of the comments Savage made (regarding Hogan and steroids) and the timing of them (with the federal investigation), Dave seems doubtful. Most likely, they're just trying to paint Hogan as the bad guy in preparation for bad publicity when the steroid investigation finally ends or to damage Hogan in order to hurt whatever he might have going on with WCW.
- An Atlanta murder case may have ties to WCW. A man named Simon Ijiwoye was murdered in May and the trial is ongoing. Apparently, Ijiwoye was an alleged steroid trafficker and distributor to "pro wrestlers and Atlanta Falcons football players" in the Atlanta area. So far, the only name linked to Ijiwoye is the Falcons quarterback Chris Miller, who has denied the allegations. No wrestlers have been linked by name to the case yet, but the defendant has claimed that Ijiwoye distributed steroids to "major wrestling personalities" in Atlanta, which pretty much has to be WCW wrestlers.
- More trouble for Antonio Inoki. In Japan, a man named George Domo was arrested at the airport, trying to smuggle in 28 guns. During the trial, Domo took the stand and testified that Inoki was the one who asked him to smuggle the guns in. Japan has very strict gun possession laws (which Dave says "is at least partially the reason why the murder rate is almost non-existent there." I'm sure that Dave saying that strict gun laws stop murders won't be controversial at all in the comments).
- At the EMLL 60th anniversary show, Mano Negra lost his mask in a mask-vs.-mask match against Atlantis. Afterwards, Negra introduced his 17-year old son (Mano Negra Jr.) and said he was training him to eventually face Atlantis and get revenge by taking Atlantis' mask. Dave says that's a pretty crazy way to begin an angle that probably won't pay off for ten years or so. (Unfortunately it never did. Mano Negra Jr. did indeed become a wrestler and worked for EMLL up until his apparent retirement in 2005 and best I can tell, they never faced each other and Negra Jr. never really become a big star. And to this day, Atlantis still has his mask).
- Terry Gordy was expected to be back for the All Japan tag tournament in November but he won't be. No word was given and Dave doesn't elaborate on it. But it's basically because he was still fucked up from the overdose a few months ago. He never was the same after that.
- First day ticket sales for NJPW's Jan 4th Tokyo Dome show totaled $1,488,650 which is the 2nd largest first day ticket sales in Japanese history (behind a UWF show in 1989).
- With Jeff Jarrett headed to WWF full time and Lawler working more of a regular schedule there, USWA is in need of a new top babyface. Brian Christopher is being turned face and is the likely candidate for that spot. A promoter pushing his son as the top star of the promotion he runs? BANISH THE THOUGHT!
- An indie wrestler named Gerald McCra was shot and killed by his 15-year-old son, who also killed his mother and 11-year-old sister (I'm only sharing this one because I got curious and googled it. The son was sentenced to life without parole in 1995. But in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled the life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders is unconstitutional. As of 2016, the dude is trying to get paroled, but is still in prison.)
- ESPN2 was negotiating with New Japan to bring their show to the channel, but talks have stalled because ESPN officials felt Japanese wrestling was too much like WWF wrestling so ESPN lost interest. Man, imagine how different things would be if NJPW had ever gained a foothold on TV in America in the 90s.
- Dave saw the trailer for Hogan's "Thunder In Paradise" show and well, let's let him tell it: "The concept is Hulk Hogan and SI swimsuit model Carol Alt being in a marriage of convenience with her daughter trying to get them to be really together. Hogan is seemingly always riding around in a souped-up speedboat and getting into fights (with the likes of Giant Gonzalez and Jim Neidhart) and there are women in bikinis and exploding boats everywhere."
- Crush turned heel on Raw this week, attacking Randy Savage to start a feud with him.
- Sabu got a WWF tryout against Scott Taylor (Scotty 2 Hotty) but apparently didn't look good and won't be signed.
- Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan taped a commercial for Dominos Pizza (I can't find this?! WHY CAN'T I FIND THIS?!?! I need this in my life).
- Jeff Jarrett debuted on WWF TV this week as "Double J", doing vignettes as a character who can't get a break as a country singer, so he's going to use WWF to get his big break.
- WWF is planning to run shows in 1994 in Japan. Vince McMahon is reported as saying they won't be working with any other Japanese promotions as they have done in the past, however they will be featuring some Japanese wrestlers on the shows.